Chamber and committees

Going back to transparency and data sharing, you touched on the idea of making some of the data publicly available. There are gaping holes in the draft instrument before us, however, and it does not address a lot of the concerns that would naturally arise from that. There is a lack of clarity about how the data will be managed, and there are questions about how it will be stored, who will be the data controller, who will have access to it and how it will be used for wider science and monitoring purposes. Surely it should have been made quite clear in the instrument how the data was going to be used. Given the commercial sensitivity, alarm bells are sounded, in particular, when you suggest that some of the information might be available to the public. You have said that you might want to do that, but nowhere in the instrument have you set out what constraints and regulations there will be around how Government deals with the data.

That is all very well, but should that not have been specified in the instrument? We are expected to vote to introduce the regulations, but there are not actually any safeguards, and we are just taking your word for it that the data will only be used in certain ways. Why were those details not included, to give some certainty and transparency about how the Government intends to use the data?

There is one question that I do not think that we have covered. Given that the specification and the annual costs that are set out in the BRIA are being disputed, has any consideration been given to providing grant funding to ensure that those boats can upgrade to the technical specification?

Thank you. I do not believe that we have any further questions.

We move to the next agenda item, which is the formal consideration of the motion to approve the instrument. I invite the cabinet secretary to move motion S6M-12641.

Motion moved,

That the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee recommends that the Sea Fisheries (Remote Electronic Monitoring and Regulation of Scallop Fishing) (Scotland) Regulations 2024 be approved.—[Mairi Gougeon.]

Does any member wish to debate the motion?

Is the committee content to delegate authority to me to sign off our report on the instrument?

Members indicated agreement.

Good morning, and welcome to the 10th meeting in 2024 of the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee. We have received apologies from Alasdair Allan MSP, and we welcome back to the committee Karen Adam MSP, who will be attending as a committee substitute. Before we begin, I remind everyone who is using electronic devices to please switch them to silent.

We begin with an evidence session on the Sea Fisheries (Remote Electronic Monitoring and Regulation of Scallop Fishing) (Scotland) Regulations 2024, for which we have approximately 90 minutes.

I welcome to the meeting Elspeth Macdonald, who is the chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, and Helen McLachlan, who is the head of marine policy at RSPB Scotland and who is giving evidence on behalf of the future fisheries alliance. Joining us remotely is Ian Gatt, who is the chief executive of the Scottish Pelagic Fishermen’s Association, and Joe Whitelegg, who is the fisheries control and enforcement manager for Isle of Man Fisheries. Thank you very much for joining us this morning.

I will kick off with a straightforward question. Do you believe that there is a need to introduce mandatory remote electronic monitoring? Is it clear what the benefits are and how REM could improve fisheries management in Scotland?

I ask Elspeth Macdonald to kick off.

Rachael Hamilton has a supplementary question.

You talked about the maximum frame rates that the cameras could capture. I know that the tech spec suggests that there should be a minimum of 2 megapixels per frame and a minimum horizontal resolution of 1,920 pixels per frame, as well as infrared capability and a minimum ingress protection rating of IP66. Are you confident that those specifications are sufficient to comply with the legal and policy aims of the Government? Does the REM that is currently on scallop boats comply just now, or are we looking at a whole new REM system being installed on the scallop fleet?

Does it need to rule it out?